Local Group Buys Las Vegas 51s For $20M; New Ballpark Planned For '15

Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club LLC yesterday announced it has “closed on the purchase” of the Triple-A PCL Las Vegas 51s from the Stevens Baseball Group, according to Alan Snel of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. The price of the Mets affiliate was $20M. The “biggest new challenge for the new owners is to win public support for their proposal to move the 51s" from 30-year-old Cashman Field near downtown Las Vegas to a new $65M ballpark next to Red Rock Resort in Summerlin. The owners “envision a ballpark called The Ballpark at Summerlin Centre with 8,000-9,000 seats on 16-20 acres to be donated by Howard Hughes Corp., which values the land donation" at $40M. The new owners “want a three-way partnership between the city of Las Vegas, Clark County and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to float bonds to pay” for the $65M park. Team Managing Dir Steve Mack said that “previous out-of-town owners have run the 51s ‘as an outside business.’” But Mack is “excited about the team’s fresh start because of the local control.” Snel notes the owners “already have some new ideas for the team.” They “might re-brand the team with a new name and logo and build a rotunda to encircle the proposed Summerlin ballpark for small children and families” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/14). In Las Vegas, Ray Brewer notes Cashman Field “is the 27th oldest out of 30 Triple-A ballparks.” The new stadium is expected to be “ready for the 2015 season” (LAS VEGAS SUN, 5/14).

NEW MASTERS: In Augusta, David Lee reports Agon Sports & Entertainment “officially became the new ownership group” of the Single-A South Atlantic League Augusta GreenJackets, “purchasing the team from Ripken Baseball, which owned the club for seven years.” The purchase price was not disclosed (AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 5/14).